SLT contact when off sick

[plymouthmaid]

I was admitted to hospital with a serious illness on Saturday and emailed my head and his PA on Sunday informing them of the situation and telling them that I wouldn't be in school for the week.
My head responded telling me not to worry and that my health was the most important thing.
I remained in hospital until Wednesday afternoon.
I received an email, whilst in hospital,from my line manager informing me of a meeting we are to have next week.
The meeting is a timetabled one ( we have it fortnightly) and not of an urgent nature.
Can anyone tell me of the situation regarding contact of this sort being made when I was off work sick.

Was it to your work or personal account? I would assume work account is ok because the assumption is if you are choosing to look at it then you are well enough and if you don't look at your email then it you won't see it.

Unless he hadn't been informed about your illness I am pretty sure that's not allowed.

Think yourself lucky it was only a meeting. My old deputy hassled my friend about her mid term reports when she had just been diagnosed with cancer... Bitch.

Thanks, both.
It was to my work email and she definitely knew the situation.
She's got an issue with me and she is very underhand.
Possibly I'm being over sensitive.
Purple, that's shocking bitch is too kind a word.

Surely emails to your work account are fine? But not being hassled on personal email phone.

If it was to your work email, and you are off sick, it would be reasonable to assume that you would not see the email until you returned to work.
I would think that the email would have been sent with that in mind and it was intended to be ready for your return.

In an ideal world, your HT would not have revealed more than the bare minimum about your absence to other members of staff - certainly not any medical details. So it is possible that your line manager is genuinely unaware of the serious nature of your illness and is assuming that you will be back in time for the meeting.
TBH, if they have been breaching confidentiality to talk about your illness, that is a bigger problem than a work email going to a work email address about work stuff.

I hope you are making a steady recovery .

If it was to your work email address, it could be argued (by sly colleague) that it was for you information only, and not to be actioned.
I can see work emails on my phone, but pick and choose which I respond to when off-duty.

I'm SLT. I would never disclose why someone was off to someone else. I still email people while they're off sick as I don't expect them to be checking their emails while they're off. This is largely so that important information doesn't get forgotten about - e.g. if I have to remember what I need to send someone when they return.

It depends on the nature of the email - if they're demanding you do something while you're off then that is not on. In future, to avoid this, just don't check your emails while you're off. You could say you haven't seen it, but they could check this out.

PS - get well soon.

Surely you still receive work emails when you're off sick? Why were you checking them?
Though all this talk of confidentiality etc... Surely your line manager is the person you should have reported this to and they should be managing your absence. Why did you go over their head?

Maybe I've misunderstood the situation though as no one else seems to think this is out of the ordinary.

Surely your line manager is the person you should have reported this to and they should be managing your absence. Why did you go over their head?
Not in any school I've worked in.

You ring up one of the administration people about illnesses and possibly inform the head if it's a big thing.
It's explicitly mentioned in protocol in every school I've worked in that you do not report absence to your line manager / HOD.

If you're well enough to shove some cover together then you would probably let them know and send the cover.
If you're too unwell then administration tell head of department and they set cover.

Stealth - I think it depends on the school. In my current school all absence is reported to the line manager, however in the previous schools I've worked in there has been a special number to phone in on that goes directly to the head or their PA - the line manager then just gets told that someone is off, but not the reasons why.

I would say you are being over sensitive and maybe even looking for something to get your line manager in to trouble over. You chose to access your work email while off sick, you are under no obligation to do so. Your SLT probably intended you to see it on your return.

Ah OK then. So what is the point of the line manager if they don't manage things like your absence?
Where I work absence detail would be reported to me as line manager, and I would choose how much to tell the rest of the team and my own line manager.

I think e-mailing a work account while you're off is fine, as long as there is no expectation that you will respond before you return. It was your choice to check your e-mail.

The line manger would still do stuff like performance management etc. I think in larger schools it is easier if all absence goes to one person as they then have to deploy cover.

Seems disjointed.

stealth
In my team to the HOD and leadership team set and manage all cover. They just don't get involved in absence paperwork.

So if I send something in then they'll set it for my classes or if someone's absent then they will arrange all the cover today by day.

All the details go through admin and then it's up to us how much we want divulged to line managers.

So who does return to work interviews? Who would handle it if sickness absence became a disciplinary issue?

Accessing your work email while off sick shows your well enough to check - so I don't think they are wrong in sending in there. If it was personal however, that is wrong.
When I was in hospital I was getting messages asking me to come into work, I had emergency surgery on Friday at 9pm and was told I 'better be in for my 10am shift' I love my job so much

So who does the absence paperwork then maisy? Not the head as you've said, not your line manager as they've not been told the details.

In a school it is much more common for senior management/the head to deal with disciplinary issues/return to works etc...

Your department line manager is responsible for the academic department and overseeing your teaching/professional development/discipline etc not absence or really serious issues that would warrant dicplinary. They are also not responsible for managing cover staff (beyond ensuring there is work in the class room for them) which is why you have to report absence to those who are.

OP: it doesn't sound like your LM has done anything wrong here if they are assuming you won't check your work email until you are well enough.

"So who does return to work interviews? Who would handle it if sickness absence became a disciplinary issue?" In the school in which I am a governor it is the business manager who deals with that (with oversight from and where needed the involvement of the head).